


Heroes Always Get Remembered

by damthosefandoms, kryptonianmenace



Series: But You Know Legends Never Die [1]
Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), The Sandlot (1993), Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Baseball, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Sandlot, Baseball, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2019-12-25 15:33:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 6,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18264224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damthosefandoms/pseuds/damthosefandoms, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kryptonianmenace/pseuds/kryptonianmenace
Summary: It was in the greatest summer of Tim Drake’s life: when Dick taught him to play baseball, and they went from just being step-brothers to being best friends.---The Sandlot AU you didn't know you needed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I listed [damsevendemigods](https://archiveofourown.org/users/damsevendemigods/pseuds/damsevendemigods) as a co-creator cos even though I did the writing, she came up with like half the ideas. [Sohotthateveryonedied](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sohotthateveryonedied) let us bounce ideas off her and acted as a beta reader. Without these two, we wouldn't have this fic, so appreciate them.  
> This was created both because we were freaking out about how great The Sandlot is, and also as a slight homage to the 1998 YJ comic where the team played baseball to save the planet.

There is one all-time greatest moment in the history of sports, and it happened in the 1932 World Series. The story goes that in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, a full count, and the tying run on base, Babe Ruth raised his arm and pointed to the center field bleachers. No one believed it, because nobody had ever done it before, but The Babe was calling his shot. On the next pitch, the Great Bambino hit a _ towering _ home run. And even though he'd been a hero before that, that's pretty much how he became a legend.

Thirty years later, a kid named Richard “Dick” Grayson became a neighborhood legend.

It was in the greatest summer of Tim Drake’s life: when Dick taught him to play baseball, and they went from just being step-brothers to being best friends.

And Dick got them all out of the  _ biggest _ pickle they’d ever be in.


	2. Chapter 2

Tim and his mom had moved in with Dick and his dad, Bruce Wayne, with only two weeks left of school.

It was the same summer that Dodger Maury Wills would break the stolen bases record, so with something that incredible going on, Tim figured it should’ve started off with loads of great things happening for him.

It didn’t.

Tim loved his adoptive mother, but Selina Kyle was always trying to push him outside of his comfort zone, and it never quite worked. He had been looking forward to not being the only adopted kid in the family, especially since both of Bruce’s boys were around the same age. But by the time Selina and Tim were able to move, Jason’s biological mother had been found and the boy was forced to move to Arizona to live with her. Dick, who Tim had been counting on to be his first friend, was constantly sulking at the loss of his brother and was therefore avoiding Tim, who was just salt on the wound to him.

Tim was the new kid from out of state, with no friends to be had. It was one of the worst ways to start a summer, especially with two new family members to get to know.


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone in Happy Harbor knew about the sandlot, but not many used it. It was through Dick and his friends that Tim learned about it. He had followed Dick one day, curious about what his new step-brother did everyday.

Tim knew very little about baseball, but from watching the kids at the sandlot, he learned something integral about Dick: he lived and breathed for the game.

The sandlot’s game was unlike any other game Tim had ever seen. No score, no sides, no stopping. When one day ended, the next day would pick up at the same spot. The game went on forever, and that was every kid’s  _ dream. _


	4. Chapter 4

“Don’t be a goofus,” Tim muttered to himself as he stepped out onto the field. “Don’t. Be. A goofus.” He hung back, trying not to draw too much attention to himself as he watched the game, eyes following the ball as it went from kid to kid. Slowly, his eyes wandered from the ball to each of his step-brother’s friends.

Dick was up to bat, Artemis Crock playing catcher and taunting him as he prepared for the pitch. Rolling his eyes with a grin, Dick shook his head and adjusted his stance.

“Strike him out, Speedy!” the girl shouted to the redhead on the pitcher’s mound.

“Don’t tell me what to do, Art!” Roy Harper yelled back.

“You’ve got this, Grayson!” Wally West called from right field. “Hit a homer!”

“Just throw the ball already,” Conner Kent said. “You’re wasting daylight, Harper.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Bart Allen added, leaning on the shortstop instead of positioning himself next to third base like he was supposed to. “Supes is right! Get a move on!”

“Get back on your base, Imp,” Artemis called as Roy finally threw the pitch.

Megan Morse and Garfield Logan joined in on the team’s excited yelling as Dick cracked the bat against the ball and bolted without a moment’s hesitation, flying across the bases as they all scrambled after him.

Tim jolted in surprise as he realized they were all yelling at him, pointing at the ball that he hadn’t realized was headed his way. Too late, apparently, as he missed the catch completely and watched as the ball rolled to a stop several feet behind him. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he ran after it. 

He handed the ball back to Wally, or Kid Loudmouth as he was being called today, who gave him a weird look.

“Aren’t you Dick’s little brother?” he asked.

“Step-brother,” Dick said, slinging an arm to rest on Wally’s shoulders as he joined the two. “What’re you doing here, Tim?”

“Uh…” Tim started, fidgeting with the baseball mitt he had grabbed after seeing Dick carrying his as the rest of the team surrounded them. “I was wondering where you go everyday.”

“You play?” Dick asked, taking the ball from Wally and tossing it to the younger boy.

“I—I, uh—” Tim stuttered before he was interrupted.

“Go on, throw it to Beast Boy,” Dick said, gesturing to Garfield, who quickly backed up to leave more space.

At a loss, Tim looked down at the ball in his glove before hesitantly shifting to throw it. His face heated as he heard the others whispering behind him, and the heat changed to a burn as the ball flopped awkwardly only a few feet in front of him. The whispers became uproarious laughter.

“I’m gonna just…go home,” Tim muttered, ducking away from Dick when the older boy reached out to stop him.

“Way to go, assholes,” Dick snapped as Tim disappeared down the street.


	5. Chapter 5

Tim studiously ignored Dick when the older boy came into the room, the Superman comic book serving as a way to block him from view.

Dick looked around at the scattered items on the floor, from Tim’s science projects on his desk to the abandoned baseball glove and hat near the door.

“We, uh. We call Conner ‘Supes’ because he kind of looks like those Superman comics,” Dick started awkwardly. “He hates it ‘cause he doesn’t read them and Wally and Gar tease him about it constantly.”

Tim didn’t respond, flipping to the next page as his eyes scanned the page.

Crouching to pick up the hat, Dick examined it closely. “Is this a robin?”

“Yeah,” Tim said as he flipped another page. “Only hat I have. I didn’t want to take one from you or Bruce.”

“But you took my old glove?” Dick asked, a small grin quirking on his face.

Tim shrugged but continued to avoid looking at him. “Figured you weren’t using it.”

Dick shifted awkwardly as he stared down at the hat before finally settling next to Tim on the bed. “I, uh. I don’t talk about this much but… My, uh… My biological mother used to call me her ‘little robin.’ It was mainly ‘cause I was born on the first day of spring, but Mom said it was ‘cause I was born to fly. I never… I never actually got the chance to get on the trapeze. I was too young, and then they…” Dick trailed off.

“Oh,” Tim whispered.

Dick tossed the hat into Tim’s lap and stood abruptly, barely missing the comic book that Tim still gripped loosely. “You should… You should ask Bruce to teach you how to play. He  _ wants  _ to get to know you; he’s just being his weird, grumpy self about it. And baseball is fun. You’ll like it.”

Tim stared after him in silence long after he had left the room.


	6. Chapter 6

“Stop laughing!” Tim whined, attempting to glare at Dick as Bruce held a cold steak to his blackened eye.

“Sorry. I’m sorry, it’s just—” Dick struggled to hold back his laughter. “He said keep your eye on the ball and you—” Dick paused as he erupted into another fit of laughter. “You put the  _ ball _ on your  _ eye.” _

“Dick, this isn’t the best time to be cracking jokes,” Bruce said. He made sure Tim had a good grip on the steak before stepping back to rest in a kitchen chair.

“It is a little ironic,” Selina commented as she settled against the counter, keeping an eye on her son who fidgeted in his seat.

“Mom! You traitor!” Tim exclaimed, pouting when she gave him a small smile.

“Maybe you should just learn on the go,” Dick said, pulling himself to sit on the kitchen table and ignoring the disapproving looks he received. “You can come be our ninth man and I’ll make sure you don’t get another black eye.”

“I remember Jason getting plenty of black eyes when you brought him to the sandlot with you,” Bruce said, but Dick waved him off.

“Those weren’t from baseball, those were from Jason being Jason.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Come on,” Dick said, dragging Tim after him once Selina had finally let him stop icing his eye. “We gotta go meet up with the others.”

“I dunno, Dick. I don’t—”

“Don’t what?” Dick interrupted, turning to walk backwards as he continued to lead the way.

“I—I don’t have a glove anymore, remember? The last one got busted up with my eye,” Tim said, trying hard to hide the fact that he wanted to head back home.

“Already thought of that,” Dick said with a smirk. He tossed another glove at Tim and spun back to face forwards as he walked. “I grabbed another one of my spares for ya.”

“Oh. Uh, okay.”

Glancing back as Tim hurried to keep up, Dick raised an eyebrow at him before speaking again. “And try not to embarass me this time, okay, Rob?”

Tim scrunched his face. “Rob?”

Dick turned again to pull out Tim’s baseball hat from his back pocket and pull it over the younger boy’s head. “Short for Robin. Now keep up, we’re gonna be late.”


	8. Chapter 8

“Oh,  _ please, _ Kid Brag,” Roy was saying as Dick and Tim joined the ragtag group of kids. “As if.”

“I’m telling ya, Uncle Hal’s gonna be the first man in space!” Wally boasted. 

“Yeah, and I’m the Great Bambino,” Artemis scoffed, whacking Wally upside the head and earning herself a glare.

“The who?” Tim asked, drawing the conversation towards his arrival. Dick buried his face in his hand, muttering to himself. At the dead silence and obvious gawking, Tim shifted uncomfortably. “What?”

“What did he just say?” Conner muttered, half to himself, half to Megan.

“What, were you raised in a barn, man?” Garfield asked.

“Yeah, what planet are you from?” Bart added.

Tim continued to stare blankly as the others crowded closer.

“You’ve never heard of the Sultan of Swat?” Megan asked.

“The Titan of Terror?” Roy chimed in.

“The Colossus of Clout?” Wally said, with Bart nodding along and repeating the title.

“The King of Crash?” Conner said.

Tim shot a glance at Dick, who ignored him. “Oh, yeah. The Great Bambino. Of course,” he lied. “I thought… you said ‘The Great… Bambi…’”

“That wimpy  _ deer?” _ Artemis asked, eyebrows jumping to the stratosphere. 

“Uh, yeah. I guess. Sorry.”

Dick let out a long sigh and moved his hand from his face. “Anyway, Robin, let me introduce you to the team,” he said. As he pointed at each team member, they spit on the ground. “That’s Megan Morse. We call her Miss Martian ‘cause her head’s always up in space. That’s her half-brother Garfield Logan. He’s really good at spooking Wally with random animal noises, so we call him Beast Boy. Wally West, his nickname changes everyday. Wally’s cousin, Bart Allen. We call him Imp ‘cause he’s impulsive as hell. Conner Kent—I already told you why he’s Supes. Roy Harper. We call him Speedy but we can’t remember why. And Artemis Crock. Guys, this is Tim Drake, my step-brother.”

Tim waved awkwardly as the others stared him down.

“He’s gonna play with us ‘cause he makes nine,” Dick continued. “Now come on, let’s get to the sandlot and play.”

Tim fell to the back of the pack, trailing after the others. Wally and Artemis pushed to the front to talk to Dick as he led the way.

“Why’d you bring him, man?” Wally asked, keeping his voice low so Tim wouldn’t hear.

“There’s eight of us, and he makes nine,” Dick said, a huff in his voice as he sped up his walk just slightly.

“Yeah, yeah, but so would my grandpa, and I didn’t bring  _ him,” _ Bart said, swinging an arm around Wally as he barged into the conversation.

Dick rolled his eyes. “Nine guys makes a whole team, Imp.”

Artemis elbowed him and narrowed her eyes. “No, we  _ were _ a whole team with Jason.”

“Jason could catch,” Wally added.

“And throw,” Artemis finished.

“Come on, Dick,” Bart said. “You saw the way he threw.”

“He ain’t game, Grayson,” Artemis said. “You already fill up all the empty positions since Jason.”

Dick’s head snapped up to glare at her. “And now I get to rotate eight positions instead of seven. I need the practice.”

“You’re already the best on the team, Dick. You don’t need anymore practice,” Wally said.

Dick shoved him once they reached the sandlot and glared.

“Dick, come on,” Artemis said. “Look at him. The kid is… He’s…”

“He’s an L-7 weenie,” Wally supplied, voice blunt.

Bart grinned. “Yeah, yeah. Oscar Mayer, even. Foot-long!”

Wally snorted as he and Bart started laughing. “Dodger dog! A weenie.”

“What are you laughing at, Kid Klutz? You run like a duck,” Dick snapped. “And Imp, half the time you don’t even know where the bases are.”

Bart’s brows furrowed. “Okay, okay, but we’re—” 

“Still part of the game, yeah?” Dick finished, staring him down.

“Yeah.”

“Then how come he can’t be?”

Wally fidgeted and exchanged a glance with Artemis before he spoke up. “He’s a geek, man. It’s obvious.”

“So was Jay,” Dick said. “And he could also throw a punch. Being a geek’s got nothing to do with it.”

“Jay could also throw a ball,” Artemis muttered.

“Shut up and base up, blockheads,” Dick said, storming away from the others to get to the homebase. “Robin, you take left center,” he called out as he passed. 

“Uh. Where?” Tim asked, looking wildly around at the field.

With a patient sigh, Dick pointed.

“Here?” Tim asked once he moved to the outfield.

“I said left center. You’re too far left,” Dick said, trying hard not to roll his eyes.

“Oh, ok!” Tim scrambled to get further center as Dick got ready to bat.

“Imp! Get back to three, stop hanging ‘round two,” Dick called out. Bart ran back to his position. “Come on, Supes. Get the ball in here.”

Rolling his eyes, Conner tossed the ball to Roy on the pitcher’s mound, scattered talk filling the sandlot as they got ready to play.


	9. Chapter 9

“I’m never gonna get this, man,” Tim said, turning his back to the other players as Dick sighed and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “I can’t catch, can’t throw. I’m not—” Tim cut off as he shoved Dick’s arm away. “I’m not ever gonna be Jason, Dick!”

“You think I don’t know that?” Dick snapped.

“I’m not stupid. I saw he scratched his name into the glove,” Tim said as he shoved the baseball glove into Dick’s chest.

Dick fumbled with the glove and stared down at it, a lump growing in his throat. “I didn’t know he did that. Swear to you.”

“Don’t lie. I know I’m not game, but I am a genius.” 

“Bruce taught me how to play with this glove,” Dick whispered. “And I taught Jay with it. He… Jay… Jason gave it back to me the night he left.”

Tim remained silent as Dick swallowed thickly and held the glove back out to him.

“He said… He said to make sure our new brother had game, whether you started with it or not. And to use the family glove if you didn’t.”

Tim looked down at his feet but grabbed the glove. “I still shouldn’t be here. I should just go home.”

“No, no, no. Rob, you’re thinking too much,” Dick said, resting a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “Here, let me try something. Copy my arm movements.”

Tim shuffled back and shifted to watch Dick as he raised an arm.

“It’s like throwing a newspapers on a paper route. You ever have a paper route?” Dick mimed a newspaper being thrown onto a front porch.

“My mom is Selina Kyle, so no,” Tim said, deadpan as Dick snorted.

“Doesn’t matter, I guess. Once you get your arm around here? You just let the ball go.” He motioned for Tim to copy him and the two mimed throwing for a short moment.

“Just let it go?”

“It’s that easy.” 

“Still can’t catch,” Tim said. “You saw what happened last time I tried to learn.”

“Just hold your glove out in the air. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Tim jumped in alarm as Dick started jogging back to homebase. “What?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Dick called out.

“About time, Grayson!” Roy yelled. “Allen is about to combust from having nothing to do.”

“Slow your roll, Speedy,” Dick said. “I’m back, ain’t I?”

“Quit bickering so we can play already,” Megan said, an impatient groan slipping out of her.

“Tim, when you get the ball, throw it to second, got it?” Dick called. “Throw it to second. Roy, hit me with a pitch.”

“Hit him literally!” Garfield yelled, causing the others to burst into fits of laughter.

Dick was cut off from replying as he focused on the ball Roy sent his way, hitting it towards Tim.

Tim clenched his eyes shut and held his glove in the air, muttering to himself as he hoped that Dick wouldn’t steer him wrong. It felt like ages as he waited for some sort of reaction, either an impact or angry yelling.

His eyes shot open in shock as the ball landed directly in his glove. “Throw to second,” he muttered to himself as the sandlot erupted in excited shouts, moving on instinct as he sent the ball flying towards Garfield.


	10. Chapter 10

As the summer went on, Tim slowly fell into the routine of the sandlot team, and with it his baseball skills improved. He still wasn’t as good as the others were, but he was gaining experience. Picking up the habits of the sandlot was easy, and the fact that he was the new kid often went forgotten.

That is, until the day Artemis hit a homerun over the fence at the back of the sandlot.

“Oh, come on, Crock! What’d you do that for?” Conner yelled, slamming his glove on the ground. 

Artemis ignored him in favor of shooting a smug grin as she struck a pose on homebase. “Yet another homer for the great Artemis Crock, baseball’s next big hit.”

“You’re gonna  _ get _ hit for that, Artemis! Now we can’t play no more,” Roy snapped, yanking her ponytail. 

Elbowing him hard in the stomach, Artemis scowled. “Let me have my moment, Harper.”

“There’s so much daylight left, and we’re down our only ball,” Megan said, crossing her arms and pouting. “This sucks.”

“I can go get it,” Tim said. He remained unheard as the others kept bickering, so he shrugged to himself and started jogging to the fence.

He was only about five feet away when the others started frantically yelling.

“Robin, wait!”

“Rob! Stop!”

“You have a death wish, Drake?”

With all the yelling, it was hard to tell who said what, but Tim paused. He turned and found all the other kids bolting after him in terror. “What’s the big deal? I just climb over, grab the ball, and we get back to the game.”

“You’ll be killed!” Wally said. He grabbed Tim’s arm and stared at him with wide eyes. “The ball’s gone, man. Don’t risk it.”

“But—”

Bart cut him off. “It’s too dangerous. Any ball that goes over the fence is history.”

“Kiss it goodbye, Tim. We’ll get another ball tomorrow,” Conner said.

“What? But why?” 

The others answered simultaneously: “The Beast.”

At Tim’s look of confusion, Megan stepped closer to him. “Listen, Tim. Just… Go over to that hole in the fence, real quiet and slow, and take a peek. Just a peek.”

Tim looked to the others for more explanation, but they just urged him on.

Slowly, he made his way over to the hole in the fence and crouched down. He put his face close enough to peer in, and looked on in confusion.

A large, furry paw slammed down less than a foot from the fence and he jolted back in shock. Shaken, he leaned forward again, ignoring the frantic whispers behind him urging him to be careful, only this time his eyes met a snarling snout.

Bolting backwards and away from the fence, he let out a curse and turned his wild gaze to his friends.

“Wha— What was that?”

Instead of responding, the others exchanged knowing looks. Wally grinned as they all declared as one: “Camp out!”


	11. Chapter 11

Tim looked around the treehouse in quiet awe as he watched the others roughhouse and chat all around him. Megan sat behind Artemis, braiding the girl’s hair as Artemis engaged Dick in an arm wrestling match. Conner and Roy sat by a small bunsen burner, messing around with the flame and some food. Bart was talking a mile a minute as Wally nodded along, only to be interrupted when Garfield snuck up behind Wally and let out a vicious-sounding snarl. Wally flailed and tripped in fright as everyone started laughing, only for someone to start shushing them all.

“Tim, you want a s’more?” Roy asked.

Tim nodded and Conner gave him a weird look as he settled on the other side of the bunsen burner. “Some more what?” Conner asked.

“No, a s’more,” Tim said.

“You haven’t eaten anything, though. How can you have some more of nothing?”

Roy looked at Conner as though he were from another planet. “Supes, how the hell have we been friends for so long, and you don’t know what a s’more is?”

“Even I know what a s’more is, and Dick says I don’t know anything,” Tim said.

“Artemis! Supes doesn’t know what a s’more is!” Roy said, distracting Artemis long enough for Dick to pin her arm down.

She let out a groan as she pulled away from Dick and Megan and scooted closer to Roy. “You’re killing me, Supes.”

“Pay attention, man, Art’s gonna blow your mind,” Roy said.

Artemis grabbed the food from Roy and pulled out the ingredients for a s’more. “Alright, first you take the graham,” she said sagely, holding the graham cracker up in demonstration. “You take the chocolate,” she said, pausing to hold up the chocolate next to the cracker. “And you put it on the graham. Then, you roast your mallow… and cover it with the other end. Then you stuff,” she finished, squashing the s’more down and shoveling it in her mouth with a satisfied grin.

“Marshmallows aren’t kosher,” Conner said.

Artemis groaned once more and flopped so all her weight was on Roy. “You’re  _ killing _ me, Supes. Such a killjoy.”

“Guys, be quiet!” Wally hissed. “You’re gonna wake it up!”

“Wake what up?” Bart asked.

“The Beast!”

“Oh! Yeah!” Bart exclaimed, only for Wally to smack him upside the head and shush him.

“Are you ready for the story of the Beast?” Garfield whispered to Tim, who nodded.

Once everyone quieted down, Wally grabbed a flashlight and positioned it under his chin. With all eyes on him, he began to tell the tale.


	12. Chapter 12

_ The legend of the Beast goes back a long time. Back before any of us could even pick up a baseball. Back to a place…called Smith’s Acres. _

_ It all started about… Hmm… Twenty years ago, when thieves kept stealing junk from Smith’s Acres junkyard. So Mr. Smith, the guy that used to own the place, got him this new pup from the dog pound. He fed him whole sides of beef and turned the pup loose in the junkyard. _

_ And the pup was grateful. _

_ And so, in a few weeks, the pup grew into the Beast. And he grew big, and he grew mean, so he could protect the junkyard with only one thing on his mind: _

_ To kill everyone that broke in. _

_ And he did! _

_ And he liked it a lot! _

_ The Beast was the most perfect junkyard dog that ever lived. A true killing machine. _

_ But after a while, the cops started getting phone calls from people reporting all the missing thieves, the ones the Beast had killed. It added up to about a hundred and twenty-- a hundred and seventy-three guys. It’s true. _

_ They never found a single body. Not one. Some people say they all got away. But we all know what really happened. The Beast ate them. He ate them, bones and all. _

_ The Beast was too good at his guard dog job, so the police said he had to be retired. My grandpa, Jay Garrick, was police chief back then. He ordered Mr. Smith to turn his backyard into a fortress and chain up the Beast and put him under the house, where he could never get out to eat children and stuff. _

_ And that’s where he’s been for twenty years, and that’s where he’ll be for the rest of his life. Because Mr. Smith asked the cops how long he had to keep the Beast chained up like a slave, and they said until forever. _

_ Forever. _

_ For. Ev. Er. _

_ Forrr. Evvv. Errr. _ _ _


	13. Chapter 13

“Forever,” Wally said, drawing out the word as long as he could. “And so, the Beast sits there under that lean-to, dreaming of the time he can break the chain and get out, dreaming of the time he can chase and kill again.”

Wally clicked off the flashlight with a flourish, face somber. 

“See, man?” Garfield said, leaning on Tim. “That’s why you can’t go over that fence. The last kid who went over was never seen again. He got  _ eaten.” _

“That ain’t true,” Tim said with a scoff. “You’re just trying to scare me.”

“Yeah, it is. What do you think happened to Jason?” Artemis said. 

“Jason? But I thou—” Tim started, only to be cut off by Dick.

“It was gruesome. Utterly gory,” Dick said, throwing Tim a wink when the others weren’t looking.

“We’ve hit probably hundreds of balls over that fence over the years, Timmy,” Megan said, “but there’s a reason we always just buy a new one.”

“Take a look out that window, man,” Conner said.

Reluctantly, Tim made his way to the window of the treehouse and stuck his head through. The soft sound of a dog growling in its sleep drifted up to Tim’s ears as he stared down at a yard completely bare of any baseballs, including the one hit over that day.

“Whatever goes over that fence, stays there,” Roy said as Tim brought his head back inside. “Once it’s in the yard, it belongs to the Beast.”


	14. Chapter 14

“I’m going to  _ die,  _ Dick,” Megan groaned, sprawling out on the bench in the sandlot’s dugout. “This heat is gonna set us all on fire, and we all know fire’s the only thing that can kill me.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Miss Martian,” Dick said. “We have pop to cool us down.”

“Megan’s right, man,” Conner said. “The pop’s not working. Bart’s already dead to the world.”

Bart moaned from where he lay in the dirt, an unopened can of Coke cradled against his cheek.

“Just call it for the day, Grayson,” Roy added. “We can’t play in this heat.”

The others all voiced their agreement and Dick frowned.

He crossed his arms with an eye-roll. “Fine. Let’s vote, then. Anybody who wants to be a can’t-hack-it panty waist who wears their mama’s bra, raise your hand.”

All hands shot up. 

Immediately, the others started chattering about what to do instead, while Tim stepped closer to Dick.

Tim knew his step-brother would’ve played ball no matter what; all day, all night, rain, shine, tidal wave, anything. Baseball was the only thing he cared about. But out of all the things besides baseball that the others did, there was one thing Dick didn’t complain about being dragged along to.

“The others are thinking about going to the pool. Are you gonna come?” Tim asked.

Dick reluctantly nodded, and they all headed home to change.


	15. Chapter 15

The pool was popular with the sandlot kids for many reasons, but the biggest reason was less of a  _ what  _ and more of a  _ whom:  _ Kaldur’ahm Hyde.

Kaldur was a friend from school who trained to be a lifeguard at the pool during the summer. Roy talked about him constantly, saying Garfield only started playing baseball when Megan asked him to take over as their ninth man after Kaldur became too busy with lifeguard training. Artemis said Kaldur had threatened to kick them out on multiple occasions for annoying him, but he had yet to follow through on his threat, so that meant it was a challenge to be as annoying as possible.

And little did anyone know, but that day Wally had a plan to live up to that challenge.

Tim watched in amusement as Artemis winked and blew kisses at every girl she walked past on her way to the pool. Wally complained that she never blew  _ him  _ kisses, only to receive a light shove.

Conner and Megan had taken up racing each other up and down the pool, swimming laps around a lazy Garfield who floated contently in the middle. Roy and Dick were taking turns doing tricks in the deep end, while Tim and Bart hung out on the sidelines with Wally and Artemis.

After about twenty minutes of casual chatting, Wally stood abruptly. “I can’t take it any longer!” he declared, ignoring the confused looks from his friends as he shoved his way to the pool.

He jumped into the deep end with no warning, and all his friends immediately started screaming because there was one thing that was a given about Wally: no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t figure out how to swim.

Kaldur jumped in after him, dragging his limp body out onto the pavement surrounding the water. The other kids crowded around, pushing past the curious bystanders.

“You idiot,” he muttered in between breaths as he pressed his mouth to Wally’s, pumping his clasped hands on the unbreathing chest. “Come on, Wally, don’t die on me.”

The others murmured to themselves in concern as it started to last longer than any of them expected.

Until Wally winked at Artemis when Kaldur wasn’t looking.

The next time Kaldur leaned down to breathe into Wally’s mouth, the redhead grabbed him by the back of the head and pulled him into a kiss.

Wally cackled as Kaldur shoved him away.

“I’m gonna kill you, West!” Kaldur shouted, as Wally bolted away from him. “That was a dirty trick! I thought you were gonna die!”

“No running by the pool, Kal!” Wally shouted back, ignoring his own words as he ran laughing from the other boy.

When all the kids were far enough away from the pool and sprawled in the grass laughing, Roy spoke up.

“Kal says we’re officially banned from the pool. Owner’s decision,” he said. The laughter started up once again as Wally stood up to bow dramatically.


	16. Chapter 16

There was only one night a year that the sandlot kids could play at night, and that was the Fourth of July. The fireworks lit up the sky just bright enough to keep playing long after the sun had gone down, and the kids looked forward to it.

The light from the fireworks made the game feel like it was the major leagues, making all the kids try harder than ever, to really feel like the professionals.

But despite feeling like they were in a real stadium, Tim knew Dick was the only one who felt like a professional all the time. When all the others would stop and watch the fireworks, Dick would call them back to the game, one that they all knew would lead him to bigger and better ones.

For the others, baseball was just a game. For Dick Grayson, it was life.


	17. Chapter 17

“Come  _ on, _ Grayson,” Roy complained. “Do you always gotta show off?”

Dick grinned. “I’m not. I’m just that good.”

Laughing Conner slung an arm around Megan. “Looks like he sacrificed modesty for game.” The redheaded girl snorted when Dick stuck his tongue out in response.

“It’s easy when you play with a bunch of girls and rejects,” called a voice from the end of the sandlot.

“Shut your mouth, Bleak,” Artemis drawled, coming forward to rest an elbow on Wally’s shoulder as all the kids turned to see Klarion Bleak and his teammates watching them.

“Grayson’s the only one of you fit to even touch a baseball. You’re all an insult to the game,” Klarion said, he and his team moving forward, as if preparing for a fight.

“Oh yeah?” Wally snapped, bristling in anger. “Come on then, we’ll take you right here, right now!” Artemis held him back even as the others shouted in agreement.

Klarion ignored the scheming smirk growing on Artemis’ face as he continued. “We play on a real diamond, West.”

“That’s only because you’re too chicken to get dirty,” Artemis said, voice deceivingly polite.

“You’re not even good enough to lick the dirt off our cleats,” Klarion said.

That sparked a string of insults flying back and forth between both teams for a full minute.

“Watch it, jerk!”

“Shut up, idiot!”

“Moron!”

“Scab eater!”

“Butt sniffer!”

“Pus licker!”

“Fart smeller!”

Finally, Artemis held up a hand to pause her friends and bared her teeth at Klarion. “You eat dog crap for breakfast, geek. You mix your Wheaties with your mama’s toe jam!”

Klarion tried to chime in with “You bob for apples in the toilet and you like it” but Artemis cut him off.

“You. Play. Like. A. Girl,” she said, bared teeth glinting in the sun.

Klarion stiffened up and glared. “What did you just say to me, Blondie?”

“You heard me, Witch Boy.”

Narrowing his eyes, Klarion scowled. “Tomorrow, noon. At our field. Be there, buffalo-butt breath.”

“You can count on it, pee-drinking crap face,” Artemis said, an innocent smile gracing her face.

Wally stared at her in awe as Klarion’s team left. “Art, that was the  _ coolest _ thing you’ve ever done.”

“I’ve done tons of cool things, Kid Hothead. And I’ll be even cooler tomorrow when we win,” she replied.

At that, the sandlot kids erupted in whoops and hollers, cheering for Artemis and her clever words.


	18. Chapter 18

The game against Klarion’s team was a landslide win for the sandlot team. All the kids walked on air after the win, eager to celebrate.

“Dad gave us enough money that it’s on me and Tim tonight, guys!” Dick called out, passing out tickets to the passing town fair.

“Check it out,” Roy said, pulling out a tin of chewing tobacco. “Stole it from my dad.”

“Woah, just like the pros,” Bart said, leaning in to look.

“Don’t just look at it, Imp,” Conner said. “You gotta chew it.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Tim said.

“Come on, Rob,” Wally said. “Live a little.”

“I live enough, thanks,” Tim muttered.

“You’re killing me, Rob,” Artemis groaned.

Rolling his eyes, Tim grabbed a piece. “I don’t even know what this is,” he said.

Dick laughed. “And you still protested?”

“Roy brought it! Of course I did!”

The others burst into laughter as Roy sputtered at Tim’s words.

“You don’t even know what chew is?” Roy asked. “Next you’ll say you don’t know who the Babe is.”

The banter devolved from there as the kids ragged on each other.

The night ended with them all getting sick on one of the rides. The chewing tobacco hadn’t sat well with any of them. It took their high spirits and vomited them up - quite literally.

It took a few days for the kids to recover from their night of acting like big shots, after which they all swore to stick to gum instead.

The day they all gathered to play ball again, however, was also the day that Tim got them all into the biggest pickle they had ever been in. It started with an omen.


	19. Chapter 19

“Bitchin’!” Artemis crowed at the sight of the burst open baseball.

“No, it ain’t,” Dick complained.

“Come on, man! Maybe only two or three guys in history have busted the guts out of a ball!” Wally said.

“Might be an omen,” Megan said, only to get a snort from Garfield.

“All’s it means is we can’t play,” Dick said, face slipping into a frown. “It’s not even noon. I ruined the whole day for us.”

“I’ll go get us another ball,” Tim said.

Once he said that, the others all started shouting for him to go, patience something none of them ever learned.

Tim ran home, knowing Bruce kept a baseball in his office. It was signed, but Tim didn’t know the name. Bruce was off on a business trip, so Tim figured they could use the ball until he got back, and his step-dad would be none the wiser.

That is, he thought that until he hit the ball clear over the fence into Mr. Smith’s yard.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no,” he muttered, confusing all his friends.

“Nice hit, Rob!” Conner shouted, eliciting whoops from Megan and Bart.

“That went clear over!” Wally cried.

“Robin, third is that way!” Garfield yelled as Tim ran towards the fence instead.

“No, no, no, no, no,” Tim continued to mutter.

“Tim, what’s wrong with you, man?” Dick asked.

“We have to get that ball back!” Tim said. “It was Bruce’s.”

Dick’s jaw dropped in shock. “You stole my dad’s Babe Ruth ball? Are you  _ insane?” _

“He did  _ what? _ ” Roy asked.

“You’re as good as dead, Rob,” Wally said. “First Dick’s gonna kill you, then Bruce.”

“You mean to tell me, you swiped a ball that was signed by  _ Babe Ruth _ and actually brought it here and played with it?” Artemis asked incredulously.

“I was gonna bring it back,” Tim said.

“But it was Babe Ruth!”

“You keep saying that but I don’t know who that is!” Tim snapped.

Immediately the others erupted.

“The Sultan of Swat!”

“The King of Crash!”

“The Colossus of Clout!”

“Babe Ruth. The Great Bambino!”

Tim gasped and smacked his forehead. “You mean that’s the same guy?”

The others all shouted “yes” as Tim groaned and slumped to sit on the ground.

“Tim, Babe Ruth is the greatest baseball player that ever lived. People say he was less than a god but more than a man. Like Superman or something. That ball you you just lost to the Beast is worth more than your whole life,” Wally said.

Tim groaned yet again. “I don’t feel so good.”

“We have to get that ball back,” Dick said. “Bruce is gone on business but he could be back at any time.”

“What about your mom?” Bart asked.

“She’ll help cover for us,” Tim said. “Trust me on that, she’ll cover for us.”


End file.
